FUNDING cuts are putting NHS frontline services in danger, according to an MP.

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones spoke out after independent assessors claimed one in ten hospitals are understaffed.

The announcement came as East Lancashire Hospitals Trust last week confirmed it was set to cut the number of its staff by 500, from 7,000.

Mr Jones said: “George Osborne clawed back £2.2bn from the Department of Health – money that’s desperately needed on the NHS front line.

“But, instead of spending the money on frontline care, this cash is going back to the Treasury to be used to fund their millionaires’ tax cut.

“The NHS has confirmed that over 800 nursing jobs were lost in the last month alone. This is taking the total to nearly 5,000 since David Cameron and George Osborne entered Downing Street.

“The independent care regulator, the Care Quality Commissioner, has warned that one in ten hospitals is understaffed. Cameron and Osborne can’t justify continuing to neglect our NHS and the people that work to make it possible.

“Cameron and Osborne need to get their priorities straight. They need to keep their promises to protect the NHS and scrap their unfair tax cut for millionaires.”